Verzweiflung
Location Wewelsburg Castle, Germany Appearance Verzweiflung appears as a huge black mass of bones covered in organs and muscle tissue, covered by a thick black slime that appears to be liquefied human corpses. It is roughly in humanoid shape. As it moves along, it drips bits of itself off, although it also continuously regenerates itself. At times, its slimy black mass is too much for the musculature and skeletal system to hold up. The bones will snap and protrude through the skin in places, but this does not effect its shambling movements. Lair Verzweiflung dwells in the lower halls deep beneath Wewelsburg History Wewelsberg Castle was the secret base of occultic operations for the Nazi SS during World War II. Hitler’s personal guard of twelve powerful magicians resided there and performed acts of unspeakable evil, including attempting to resurrect Verzweiflung. The castle was built on the spot where the Horror was presumably lost in a failed summonation hundreds of years previous. The Nazis performed their dark rituals nightly, including the sacrifice of as many non-Aryan peoples as they could get their hands on. According to legend, when the right number of impure-raced people were ritually slain on the black altar beneath Wewelsberg, Despair would come forth to usher in the apocalypse. Fortunately, American forces invaded just as the ceremony was about to conclude, and Despair was left in its current incomplete physical state. Modus Operandi Despair cannot use its spiritual powers, as it is partially physically manifested in this plane of existence. Due to this, it cannot gather people to perform the completion of the ritual for it. However, there are plenty of lost souls who know what was going on in Wewelsberg’s dark dungeons that night in 1945, and plenty of people devoted to complete the summoning of Verzweiflung, including the Fourth Reich, the Thule Society, and many others. Avatar The Avatar of Despair becomes leprous as time passes, eventually falling apart on a constant basis. However, just like its master, the Avatar will also be able to renew itself almost instantly. This includes healing itself from physical damage caused it by attacks of anti-cultists. Servants Despair can control shadows, making them form into images bound to frighten those who behold them. When walking through an area of Despair-controlled shadow, all who come under its dark gaze and are subject to these visions must make a Fear Roll against a target of 80. The shadows can move into three-dimensional space, but cannot physically interact with their victims Power Verzweiflung's only known powers are its ability to reconstitute itself and to control shadows, as detailed above. No one kows what his abilities may be if he were completely spiritual or completely physical. Summonation Despair requires human sacrifice, preferably persons of non-Aryan origin, to be made to it upon the altar in the lower levels of Wewelsberg. Only one more sacrifice is required before it can come forth in its initial physical form, and before the cult can begin to try to call it into full being. Luckily for the forces of good and those not interested in being completely destroyed, the castle’s dungeon is several floors under the ground and is filled with traps. Offering Human sacrifice, preferably of non-Aryan origin, to be made upon the altar under Wewelsburg. Gifts Verzweiflung can give his followers the ability to control shadows, regenerate wounds, and hold back sickness and contagion. Also, he can grant the touch of contagion, which causes 1d10 Fortitude damage per day and 1d10 ranks of mauling damage to be split among random extremities every week. Cults There are several neo-Nazi organizations which know of and attempt the revival of Verzweiflung, but they are not well organized and do not seem to have appropriate leadership to successfully summon the horror. Category:ESPER Category:Horrors